F all things that be good to be taught
unto Christian people, there is nothing more necessary to be spoken of and
daily called upon than charity; as well for that all manner of works of
righteousness be contained in it, as also that the decay thereof is the ruin or
fall of the world, the banishment of virtue, and the cause of all
vice. And for so much as almost every man maketh and frameth to
himself charity after his own appetite, and how detestable soever his life be
both unto God and man, yet he persuaded himself still that he hath
charity. Therefore ye shall hear now a true and plain description
or setting forth of charity, not of men's imagination, but of the very words
and example of our Saviour Jesus Christ. In which description or
setting forth, every man (as it were in a glass) may consider himself and see
plainly without error whether he be in the true charity or not.
Charity is to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our powers and
strength (Matthew 22.37, Mark 12.30, Luke 10.27).

With all our heart:that is to say that
our heart, mind, and study be set to believe his word, to trust in him, and to
love him above all other things that we love best in heaven or in earth.

With all our life:that is to say that
our chief joy and delight be set upon him and his honour, and our whole life given
unto the service of him above all things with him to live and die, and to
forsake all other things rather than him. "For he that loveth
his father or mother, son or daughter, house, or land more than me", saith
Christ "is not worthy to have me" (Matthew 10.37).

With all our power: that is to say that
with our hands and feet, with our eyes and ears, our mouths and tongues, and
with all our parts and powers, both of body and soul, we should be given to the
keeping and fulfilling of his commandments.

This is the first and principal part of
charity, but it is not the whole. For charity is also to love every
man, good and evil, friend and foe, and whatsoever cause be given to the
contrary, yet nevertheless to bear good will and heart unto every man, to use
ourselves well unto them as well in words and countenances as in all our
outward acts and deeds; for so Christ himself taught, and so also he performed
indeed.

Of the love of God he taught in this wise
unto a doctor of the law that asked him which was the great and chief
commandment in the Law: "Love thy Lord God", said Christ, "with
all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew
22.37). And of the love that we ought to have among ourselves each
to other, he teacheth us thus:

Ye have heard it taught in times
past, "Thou shalt love thy friend, and hate thy foe"; But I tell
you: Love your enemies, speak well of them that defame and speak
evil of you, do well to them that hate you, pray for them that vex and
persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father that is in
heaven. For he maketh his sun to rise both upon the evil and good,
and sendeth rain to the just and unjust. For if ye love them that
love you, what reward shall ye have? Do not the publicans likewise?
And if ye speak well only of them that be your brethren and dear beloved
friends, what great matter is that? Do not the heathen the same
also? (Matthew 5.43-47).

These be the very words of our Saviour
Christ himself, touching the love of our neighbour. And forasmuch as
the Pharisees (with their most pestilent traditions and false interpretations
and glosses) had corrupted and almost clearly stopped up this pure well of
God's lively word, teaching that this love and charity pertained only to a
man's friends and that it was sufficient for a man to love them which do love
him and hate his foes. Therefore Christ opened this well again,
purged it and scoured it by giving unto his godly law of charity a true and
clear interpretation, which is this: that we ought to love every man, both
friend and foe, adding thereto what commodity we shall have thereby, and what
incommodity by doing the contrary.

What thing can we wish so good for us as
the eternal heavenly Father to reckon and take us for his
children? And this shall we be sure of (saith Christ), if we love
every man without exception. And if we do otherwise (saith he) we be
no better then the Pharisees, publicans, and heathen, and shall have our reward
with them; that is, to be shut out from the number of God's chosen children and
from his everlasting inheritance in heaven. Thus of true charity,
Christ taught that every man is bound to love God above all things and to love
every man, friend and foe.

And this likewise he did use himself,
exhorting his adversaries, rebuking the faults of his adversaries, and when he
could not amend them yet, he prayed for them. First he loved God his
Father above all things, so much that he sought not his own glory and will, but
the glory and will of his Father. "I seek not", said he,
"mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 5.30). Nor
he refused not to die, to satisfy his Fathers will saying, "If it may be,
let this cup of death pass from me; if not, thy will be done, and not
mine" (Matthew 26.39, 42).

He loved not only his friends, but also
his enemies, which (in their hearts) bare exceeding great hatred against him,
and with their tongues spake all evil of him, and in their acts and deeds
pursued him with all their might and power, even unto death. Yet all
this notwithstanding, he withdrew not his favour from them, but still loved
them, preached unto them in love, rebuked their false doctrine, their wicked
liming, and did good unto them, patiently taking whatsoever they spake or did
against him. When they gave him evil words, he gave none evil
again. When they did strike him, he did not smite him again; and
when he suffered death, he did not slay them nor threaten them, but prayed for
them and did put all things to his fathers will.

And as a sheep that is led unto the
shambles to be slain and as a lamb that is shorn of his fleece maketh no noise
nor resistance, even so he went to his death without any repugnance or opening
of his mouth to say any evil. Thus have I set forth unto you what
charity is as well by the doctrine as by the examples of Christ himself whereby
also every man may without error know himself what state and condition he
standeth in, whether he be in charity (and so the child of the Father in
heaven), or not.

For although almost every man persuaded
himself to be in charity, yet let him examine none other man but his own heart,
his life, and conversation, and he shall not be deceived, but truly discern and
judge whether he be in perfect charity or not. For he that followeth
not his own appetite and will, but giveth himself earnestly to God to do all
his will and commandments, he may be sure that he loveth God above all things
and else surely he loveth him not whatsoever he pretend; as Christ said,
"If ye love me, keep my commandments. For he that knoweth my
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is", saith Christ "that loveth
me" (John 14.15, 21).

And again he saith, "He that loveth
me will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will both come to him and
dwell with him; and he that loveth me not will not keep my words" (John
14.23). And likewise he that beareth a good heart and mind and useth
well his tongue and deeds unto every man, friend and foe, he may know thereby
that he hath charity. And when he is sure that almighty God taketh
him for his dear beloved son, as St. John saith, "Hereby manifestly
are known the children of God from the children of the devil; for whosoever
doeth not love his brother belongeth not unto God" (1 John 3.10).

THE SECOND PART OF
THE SERMON

OF CHARITY.

Against Carnal Men that Will Not Forgive Their enemies.

Y

E have heard a plain and a fruitful
setting forth of charity, and how profitable and necessary a thing charity is;
how charity stretcheth itself both to God and man, friend and foe, and that by
the doctrine and example of Christ; and also who may certify himself whether he
be in perfect charity, or not. Now as concerning the same matter, it
followeth the perverse nature of man, corrupt with sin and destitute of God's
word and grace, thinketh it against all reason that a man should love his enemy
and hath many persuasions which bring him to the contrary. Against
all which reasons, we ought as well to set the teaching as the liming of our
Saviour Christ, who loving us (when we were his enemies) doth teach us to love
our enemies. He did patiently take for us many reproaches, suffered
beating, and most cruel death. Therefore we be no members of him, if
we will not follow him. "Christ", saith St. Peter
"suffered for us, leaving an example that we should follow him" (1
Peter 2.21).

Furthermore, we must consider that to
love our friends is no more but that which thieves, adulterers, homicides, and
all wicked persons do; in so much that Jews, Turks, infidels, and all brute
beasts, do love them that be their friends, of whom they have their liming or
any other benefits. But to love enemies is the proper condition of
them that be the children of God, the disciples and followers of
Christ. Notwithstanding, man's froward and corrupt nature weigheth
over deeply many times the offence and displeasure done unto him by enemies and
thinketh it a burden intolerable to be bound to love them that hate him. But
the burden should be easy enough, if (on the other side) every man would
consider what displeasure he hath done to his enemy again and what pleasure he
hath received of his enemy.

And if we find no equal or even
recompense neither in receiving pleasures of our enemy nor in requiting
displeasures unto him again, then let us ponder the displeasures which we have
done unto Almighty God, how often and how grievously we have offended
him. Whereof if we will have of God forgiveness, there is none other
remedy but to forgive the offences done unto us, which be very small in
comparison of our offences done against God. And if we consider that
he which hath offended us deserveth not to be forgiven of us, let us consider
again that we much less deserve to be forgiven of God. And although
our enemy deserve not to be forgiven for his own sake, yet we ought to forgive
him for God's love, considering how great and many benefits we have received of
him without our deserts, and that Christ hath deserved of us that for his sake
we should forgive them their trespass committed against us.

But here may rise a necessary question to
be dissolved. If charity require to think, speak, and do well unto
every man both good and evil, how can magistrates execute justice upon
malefactors or evildoers with charity? How can they cast evil men in
prison, take away their goods and sometime their lives according to laws, if
charity will not suffer them so to do? Hereunto is a plain and a
brief answer, that plagues and punishments be not evil of themselves if they be
well taken of the harmless. And to an evil man they are both good
and necessary and may be executed according to charity and with charity should
be executed.

For declaration whereof, ye shall
understand that charity hath two offices, the one contrary to the other, and
yet both necessary to be used upon men of contrary sort and
disposition. The one office of charity is to cherish good and
harmless men, not to oppress them with false accusations, but to encourage them
with rewards to do well and to continue in well-doing, defending them with the
sword from their adversaries, as the office of bishops and pastors is to praise
good men for well-doing that they may continue therein and to rebuke and
correct by the word of God the offences and crimes of all evil disposed
persons.

The other office of charity is to rebuke,
correct, and punish vice without regard of person, and is to be used against
them only that be evil men and malefactors or evildoers. And that it
is as well the office of charity to rebuke, punish, and correct them that be
evil as it is to cherish and reward them that be good and harmless.
St. Paul declareth (writing to the Romans) saying, "That the high
powers are ordained of God not to be dreadful to them that do well but unto
malefactors, to draw the sword to take vengeance of him that committeth the
sin" (Romans 13.1, 4). And St. Paul biddeth Timothy stoutly
and earnestly to rebuke sin by the word of God (1 Timothy 5.20).

So that both offices should be diligently
executed to fight against the kingdom of the devil, the preacher with the word
and the governors with the sword. Else they neither love God nor
them whom they govern, if (for lack of correction) they wilfully suffer God to
be offended and them whom they govern to perish. For as every loving
father correcteth his natural sun when he doeth amiss or else he loveth him
not, so all governors of realms, countries, towns, and houses should lovingly
correct them which be offenders under their governance and cherish them which
live innocently, if they have any respect either unto God and their office or
love unto them of whom they have governance.

And such rebukes and punishments of them
that offend must be done in due time, lest by delay the offenders fall headlong
into all manner of mischief and not only be evil themselves but also do hurt
unto many men, drawing others by their evil example to sin and outrage after
them. As one thief may both rob many men and also make many thieves,
and one seditious person may allure many and annoy a whole town or
country. And such evil persons that be so great offenders to God,
and the commonweal charity requireth to be cut from the body of the commonweal,
lest they corrupt other good and honest persons - like as a good surgeon
cutteth away a rotten and festered member for love he hath to the whole body,
lest it infect other members adjoining unto it.

Thus it is declared unto you what true charity
or Christian love is so plainly that no man need to be
deceived. Which love whosoever keepeth not only towards God (whom he
is bound to love above all things), but also toward his neighbour, as well
friend as foe, it shall surely keep him from all offence of God and just
offence of man. Therefore bear well away this one short lesson: that
by true Christian charity, God ought to be loved, good and evil, friend and
foe, and to all such we ought (as we may), to do good. Those that be
good, of love to encourage and cherish because they be good, and those that be
evil, of love to procure and seek their correction and due punishment, that
they may thereby either be brought to goodness, or at the least that God and
the commonwealth may be less hurt and offended.

And if we thus direct our life by
Christian love and charity, then Christ doth promise and assure us that he
loveth us, that we be the children of our heavenly Father, reconciled to his
favour, very members of Christ, and that after this short time of this present
and mortal life, we shall have with him everlasting life in his everlasting
kingdom of heaven; therefore to him with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all
honour and glory now and forever. Amen.

All Saints AnglicanAll Saints’ Church Greenville, SC REC Reformed Episcopal ACNA Anglican Church in North America Parish 1928 BCP 1928 Book of Common Prayer